AAAS Energy, a Dutch energy company, has partnered with ChillMine, a US cloud computing firm, to develop a solar-powered data center campus in Botswana.

The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to “establish a world-class facility designed to serve AI computing, global hyperscalers, and energy-intensive computing operations.”

According to the companies, the data center will cater to large-scale cloud providers, who require large amounts of low-cost power to support their operations.

“We are thrilled to partner with AAAS to bring our data center expertise to Botswana,” said Brian Neirby, co-founder and CEO of ChillMine Corporation. “The combination of the energy infrastructure under development and our operational experience will enable us to deliver a best-in-class, high-performance data center campus that can meet the rigorous demands of the world’s most sophisticated technology users.”

The data center is expected to be constructed at the Leupane Energy Hub located near Palpye, in the eastern part of the country. AAAS signed an agreement last year with Botala Energy to explore the development of the energy hub that would consist of 250MW of solar, and 100MW/400MW of Battery Energy Storage.

The project is reportedly under development. According to the announcement mentioned above, the energy hub is capable of accommodating up to 500MW of solar and 200MW of gas-fired power generation. When constructed, the project is expected to sell power on the Southern African Power Pool.

“This MOU with ChillMine is a significant step in our vision to connect sustainable energy development with the digital economy,” said Maarten Mennes, managing director of AAAS. “By combining power from the Solar PV + BESS Project with natural gas projects in Botswana, currently being developed by third parties, we are creating a unique value proposition for global technology companies seeking to expand into Africa.”

ChillMine was originally founded in 2018 but registered a domain name – chillmine.io – in December 2024. In April, the company signed an MoU with Zimbabwean independent power producer (IPP) Energywise to develop solar-powered data centers across the country. The companies intend to utilize power from Energywise’s planned 100MW Runde River Solar Park in Zvishavane, in the south of the country, to power the facilities.

Based out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, AAAS is a developer of solar parks in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company has several projects across the region, including Francistown, Botswana; Wedza, Zimbabwe; and Gulu, Uganda.